U.S. patent number 4,777,600 [Application Number 06/889,761] was granted by the patent office on 1988-10-11 for phonetic data-to-kanji character converter with a syntax analyzer to alter priority order of displayed kanji homonyms.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba. Invention is credited to Tsutomu Kawada, Tatsuji Kusumoto, Shigemi Nakasato, Hiroyoshi Saito, Kimihito Takeda.
United States Patent |
4,777,600 |
Saito , et al. |
October 11, 1988 |
Phonetic data-to-kanji character converter with a syntax analyzer
to alter priority order of displayed kanji homonyms
Abstract
An input processing system inputs character string data
including kanji characters and corresponding to phonetic data by
entering phonetic data. An input device sequentially inputs
phonetic data and sentence end data. A conversion section includes
a conversion processor, a syntactic analyzer, and a priority order
alterator. The conversion processor sequentially converts character
string data in a predetermined conversion unit. If single phonetic
data includes a plurality of conversion possibilities in the
predetermined conversion unit, character string data is selected
according to a predetermined priority order, thereby obtaining
character string data (including kanji characters) corresponding to
input phonetic data. The syntactic analyzer performs syntactic
analysis of a sentence consisting of the character string data in
response to sentence end data. The priority alterator alters the
priority orders of the conversion possibilities corresponding to
identical phonetic data for the conversion processor according to
syntactic analysis results, and alters the already selected
possibilities as needed. The character string data from the
conversion processor in the conversion section is displayed on a
diplay.
Inventors: |
Saito; Hiroyoshi (Yokohama,
JP), Takeda; Kimihito (Odawara, JP),
Kawada; Tsutomu (Yokohama, JP), Nakasato; Shigemi
(Kawasaki, JP), Kusumoto; Tatsuji (Tokyo,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
(Kawasaki, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
15897261 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/889,761 |
Filed: |
July 28, 1986 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 1, 1985 [JP] |
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60-170028 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/234; 704/9;
704/235 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
40/53 (20200101); G06F 40/284 (20200101); G06F
3/018 (20130101); G06F 40/211 (20200101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
17/28 (20060101); G06F 3/00 (20060101); G06F
015/38 () |
Field of
Search: |
;364/2MSFile,9MSFile,419
;434/157 ;400/110 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0003017 |
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Jan 1985 |
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JP |
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0124774 |
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Jul 1985 |
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JP |
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Primary Examiner: Smith; Jerry
Assistant Examiner: Jablon; Clark A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Fisher, Spivak, McClelland,
& Maier
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A phonetic data-to-kanji characters converter for converting
character string data including Kanji characters, comprising:
input means for inputting phonetic data and sentence end data
representing an end of a sentence;
conversion processing means for sequentially converting the
phonetic data input by said input means into character string data
in a predetermined train of the phonetic data, selecting character
string data having the highest priority according to a
predetermined priority order in the predetermined train of the
phonetic data if a plurality of conversion possibilities are
present, and obtaining the character string data which corresponds
to the phonetic data;
storing means for storing, in accordance with said priority order,
all of the character string data obtained by said conversion
processing means;
syntactic analyzing means for analyzing syntactic relations in the
character string data from said conversion processing means in
response to the sentence end data from said input means;
priority order altering means for altering, based on the analyzed
syntactic relations, the priority order of the plurality of
conversion possibilities corresponding to homonymic data during the
processing of said conversion processing means, and altering
selection of the character string data according to an altered
priority order; and
output means for sequentially displaying the character string input
from said conversion processing means.
2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said syntactic analyzing
means includes means for selecting a conversion possibility whose
semantic relation with other words in the character string data is
not defined, among conversion possibilities as homonyms obtained in
character string data from said conversion processing means, and
said priority altering means includes means for lowering a priority
order of the conversion possibility whose semantic relation with
other words in the character string data is not defined and which
is selected by said syntactic analyzing means.
3. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means comprises means for converting the phonetic data
into the character string in units of words or clauses.
4. A system according to claim 1, wherein said input means
comprises means for inputting a full stop or a parenthesis as
sentence end data.
5. A system according to claim 1, wherein said input means
comprises means for inputting a phonetic alphabetic character
string as phonetic data.
6. A system according to claim 1, wherein said input means
comprises means for inputting a phonetic kana character string as
the phonetic data.
7. A system according to claim 1, wherein said input means
comprises a keyboard for inputting character data.
8. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means comprises means for selecting a last selected
conversion possibility as a conversion possibility having the
highest priority for the phonetic data having a plurality of
conversion possibilities.
9. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means includes means for selecting a conversion
possibility having the highest previous selection frequency as a
conversion possibility having the highest priority for the phonetic
data having a plurality of conversion possibilities.
10. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means includes a dictionary means comprising a data base
for obtaining the character string data corresponding to the
phonetic data.
11. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means includes dictionary means consisting of a data
base for obtaining the character string data corresponding to the
phonetic data and syntactic data for performing syntactic analysis,
and said syntactic analyzing means includes means for performing
the syntactic analysis on the basis of the syntactic data from said
dictionary means.
12. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means comprises means for converting Japanese phonetic
data into character string data including kanji characters.
13. A system according to claim 1, wherein said conversion
processing means comprises means for converting Chinese phonetic
data into character string data including kanji characters.
14. A system according to claim 1, wherein said input means
includes means for inputting conversion possibility alteration data
for designating selection and alteration of the conversion
possibilities, and said conversion processing means includes means
for altering the conversion possibility to another conversion
possibility having a second highest priority in response to the
conversion possibility alteration data.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an input processing system for
inputting string data including "kanji (Chinese characters)" in a
computer system or a wordprocessor. More particularly, the present
invention relates to an input processing system employing a scheme
for inputting kanji as phonetic data and converting the phonetic
data to a corresponding kanji character so as to obtain a desired
kanji character, wherein a proper word (or a phrase) is selected
from a plurality of homonyms in conversion from phonetic data to
the corresponding kanji character, thereby simplifying input
operations.
Japanese wordprocessors have been recently very popular among
domestic users, as well as Japanese in foreign countries and
foreigners who learn Japanese. In a conventional input processing
system used in a Japanese wordprocessor, phonetic data constituting
a sentence, a phrase, or a clause including kanji is input in units
of words, clauses or sets of clauses and converted into a character
string including both kanji characters (ideographic characters used
in written Japanese) and kana (Japanese phonetic characters used in
only written Japanese). Kana characters are classified into
"hiragana" and "katakana" characters, which are properly selected
according to Japanese usage. Since these kana characters are
phonetic symbols, they directly correspond to phonetic data. Kanji
characters have an etiological origin in Chinese. Ordinary Japanese
sentences, phrases, or clauses are written by character strings
including kanji and kana characters. The phonetic data is input by
kana characters or alphabetic character strings representing
Japanese phonetic symbols. In conversion from phonetic data to a
character string including kanji and kana characters, a
kana-to-kanji conversion dictionary as a conversion data base is
retrieved. This dictionary is a data base which uses phonetic data
as a key to search a kanji character string or a character string
including kanji and kana characters.
Since the Japanese language includes a lot of homonyms, a plurality
of conversion possibilities or candidates are often listed in
kana/kanji conversion. In a conventional system, if a plurality of
conversion possibilities are present, an operator operates a key
for switching a possibility display from one to another among the
selected conversion possibilities, that is, the next conversion
possibility key is operated to display the correct word (or phrase)
among the plurality of possibilities. When the proper possibility
is displayed, it is selected as the conversion result.
However, selection operation for homonyms is cumbersome and
time-consuming. In a conventional system, the previous selection
frequencies of homonyms are sequentially checked, and the priority
order of the conversion possibilities is determined according to
the order of frequencies. For an identical combination of homonyms,
a word (or a phrase) which has been most frequently selected in the
preceding operations is displayed as the first conversion
possibility. In another conventional system, since identical words
are frequently repeated in a single sentence, the immediately
preceding or last selected word (or phrase) is displayed as the
first conversion possibility.
These systems greatly reduce operation load, and more particularly,
the number of key depressions in homonymic selection.
However, different homonyms often appear in a single sentence.
According to the frequency check scheme described above, the
conversion possibility having a higher frequency is selected
although a conversion possibility having the lowest frequency is to
be selected. According to the last conversion possibility selection
scheme, homonymic selection must be performed whenever the
corresponding phonetic data appears. The above implementations
result in inconvenience.
It may be possible to introduce syntactic analysis of machine
translation techniques into input processing for selecting
homonyms. However, since the syntactic analysis is performed in
units of sentences, it cannot be applied to an input processing
system for converting kana characters into kanji characters in
units of words or clauses.
An improved conventional input processing system used in a Japanese
wordprocessor is also available. According to this system, phonetic
data without segmentation is input, segmented in the system, and
sequentially subjected to kana-kanji conversion. However, in
practice, the number of characters constituting phonetic data input
by a single operation cycle is limited due to the limitations of
number of data which can be processed in combination in the system.
According to still another system, phonetic data segmentation in
units of words or clauses from the beginning of the sentence is
automatically detected by the system, and kana-kanji conversion is
performed in units of detected segmentations.
Even if one sentence is input, it is segmented into words or
clauses which are then converted from kana characters to kanji
characters. Therefore, syntactic analysis of the entire sentence
cannot be applied to the conventional input processing systems.
In addition, in order to perform the syntactic analysis, one
sentence must be completely input. If one sentence is not
completely input, the conversion result cannot be obtained. It
takes a long period of time to obtain the conversion result after
the sentence input is started. If phonetic data is input while a
document is being drafted, the already input data (corresponding to
a portion whose conversion result is not displayed yet) cannot be
checked.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an input
processing system wherein a meaningful word (or a phrase) can be
selected as a conversion possibility having a higher priority
without prolonging the time required for obtaining a conversion
result from phonetic data to kanji characters and/or without
increasing the data area required for conversion processing, and
wherein operation for selecting homonyms can be simplified.
In order to achieve the above object of the present invention,
there is provided an input processing system for inputting
character string data including kanji characters according to
corresponding phonetic data, comprising: an input device for
inputting phonetic data and sentence end data representing an end
of a sentence; a conversion processor for sequentially converting
the phonetic data input by the input device into character string
data in a predetermined conversion unit, for selecting character
string data having the highest priority according to a
predetermined priority order in the predetermined conversion unit
if a plurality of conversion possibilities are present, and for
obtaining the character string data which includes kanji characters
and which corresponds to the phonetic data; a syntactic analyzer
for analyzing syntactic relations in the character string data from
the conversion processor in response to the sentence end data from
the input device; a priority order alterator for altering the
priority order of the plurality of conversion possibilities
corresponding to homonymic data in the conversion processor, and
for altering selection of the character string data according to an
altered priority order; and an output device for sequentially
displaying the character string input from the conversion
processor.
According to the input processing system of the present invention,
phonetic data is converted into kanji characters in the
predetermined conversion unit and displayed on a screen according
to appearance frequency data and last selection data. Neither the
conversion result display is delayed nor is the processing data
area in the system increased. In addition, when sentence end data
is input, the already converted sentence is subjected to syntactic
analysis. The priority order of conversion possibilities, (i.e.,
homonyms) selectively displayed is altered according to the
analysis result. More specifically, as a result of analysis, the
priority order of conversion possibilities whose semantic relations
(i.e., the relationship representing strong connections from the
semantic viewpoint) with other words are not defined, is lowered.
If a conversion possibility (whose semantic relations with other
words in sentences are not defined) is already displayed, it is
replaced with another conversion possibility of a higher priority
order having a registered semantic relation with other words. The
probability of displaying a meaningless homonym can be effectively
reduced. As a result, the number of depressions of the key for
homonym selection can be reduced to improve operability for
inputting sentences or the like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an
input processing system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a table showing the contents of a dictionary memory in
the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a control sequence of a conversion
controller in the system of FIG. 1; and
FIGS. 4A-4C, 5 and 6 are views for explaining input processing in
the system of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
FIG. 1 shows an input processing system employed in a Japanese
wordprocessor input device according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
Input device 1 comprises an alphanumeric keyboard. Phonetic data is
entered at device 1. In this embodiment, phonetic data is input at
device 1 in the alphabetical form. However, a kana keyboard can be
used to constitute input device 1 so as to input phonetic data.
Alternatively, device 1 may have a speech recognition function so
that phonetic data is entered by speech inputs. The alphabetical
phonetic data directly corresponds to kana characters in Japanese.
Sentence end data and conversion unit end data are also entered at
input device 1. The sentence end data is entered by a full stop or
parenthesis key. The conversion unit end data is a key input from a
predetermined function key.
Phonetic data input at input device 1 is stored in input memory 2
as a buffer memory and transferred from memory 2 to conversion
controller 3. The phonetic data is segmented in a predetermined
processing unit, e.g., in units of words or clauses under the
control of controller 3. The segmented data is then subjected to
kana-kanji conversion processing (in this case, alphabetical
phonetic data is converted to kanji characters. Such phonetic data
directly corresponds to kana characters and can be immediately
converted to kana data according to a predetermined conversion
table. Conversion from phonetic data to kanji characters is called
kana-kanji conversion hereinafter).
Conversion processor 4 uses dictionary data for kana-kanji
conversion and produces a kana-kanji conversion result for input
phonetic data in the predetermined processing unit. If a plurality
of homonyms, i.e., conversion possibilities, correspond to one
phonetic data, processor 4 selects the highest priority as a
conversion result determined by the appearance frequency data
and/or the last selection data which is sequentially altered and
stored in priority information memory 6.
Kana-kanji conversion processing includes inflection and adjunct
detection operations. The frequency data and/or last selection data
stored in priority information memory 6 is sequentially updated
according to the kana-kanji conversion processing result.
Sequentially converted strings including both kanji and kana
characters are stored in output memory 7 as a buffer memory. Data
stored in memory 7 is displayed at output device 8 having a display
function.
When sentence end data representing a sentence end such as a full
stop is input at input device 1, conversion controller 3 starts
syntactic analysis. One sentence data consisting of a conversion
possibility string stored in output memory 7 is analyzed, and
semantic relations (strong connections from the semantic viewpoint)
between the conversion possibilities are checked. If a conversion
possibility representing a plurality of homonyms (other conversion
possibilities) does not have semantic relations with other words,
the priority order of such a conversion possibility is lowered
since it is improper. As a result, another conversion possibility,
i.e., a possibility having semantic relations with other words is
selected as the conversion result corresponding to phonetic data.
The last conversion result is stored in memory 7 so that the
previous conversion result is updated.
Dictionary memory 5 is a data base for storing conversion
possibility data as a character string of a mixture of kana and
kanji characters so as to correspond to each phonetic data,
parts-of-speech data, classification code data and semantic
relation data.
The character strings corresponding to phonetic data and their
parts of speech have the same dictionary data formats as in the
conventional conversion processing, in units of clauses.
The classification codes and the semantic relations are used in the
syntactic analysis described above. The classification codes are
used to simply classify the characteristics of the words from the
semantic viewpoint. For example, nouns representing "natural
persons" are classified as a, nouns representing "organizations or
corporate bodies" are classified as b, nouns representing
"vehicles" are classified as c, and nouns representing "places" are
classiiied as d. Verbs are represented by classification code s.
Semantic relations are related to subjects and objects for verbs.
Therefore, each semantic relation represents connections of a verb
with a noun having a given classification code and given kakujoshi,
i.e., given propositional words functioning as auxiliaries to main
words (to be referred to as propositional words hereinafter).
Referring to FIG. 2, phonetic data "kisha" is stored at address
P11. Character string K11 (it means "your company") corresponds to
"kisha". This word is a noun classified as the one having code b
and does not have any registered semantic relation. Phonetic data
"kisha" is also stored at address P12. Character string K12 (it
means a "journalist") corresponds to "kisha" at address P12. This
word is a noun classified as the one having code a and does not
have any registered semantic relation. Phonetic data "kisha" is
also stored at address P13. Character string K13 (it means a
"train") corresponds to "kisha" at address P13. This word is a noun
classified as the one having code c and does not have any
registered semantic relation. Phonetic data "toukyou" is stored at
address P21. Character string K21 (it means Tokyo, the capital of
Japan) corresponds to the phonetic data at address P21. This word
is a proper noun having code d and does not have any registered
semantic relation. Phonetic data "hasshasuru" is stored at address
P31. Character string K31 (it means "start") corresponds to
"hasshasuru". This word is a verb having code s and has registered
semantic relation R31, i.e., "(a/c) start from (d)". Phonetic data
"houmonsuru" is stored at address P41. Character string K41 (it
means "visit") corresponds to "houmonsuru". This word is a verb
having code s and has registered semantic relation R41, i.e., "(a)
visit (a/b/d)".
For example, since the semantic relation for character string K31
of verb "hasshasuru" is given by R31, so that
"a vehicle or a person" starts a "place".
The operation of conversion controller 3 will be described in
detail with reference to a flow chart in FIG. 3.
If conversion controller 3 receives phonetic data from input device
1 (step 100), input data is stacked in input memory 2 (step
102).
Conversion controller 3 then determines whether the phonetic data
represents a full stop or a parenthesis representing the end of
sentence, whether the phonetic data represents conversion unit end
data, and whether the phonetic data represents alphabetic character
data representing simple phonetic information (steps 104 and
106).
If the input data is an alphabetic character code representing
phonetic information, the flow returns to step 100. The next data
is input (step 100) and then stacked in input memory 2 (step
102).
If the input data is however sentence end data representing a full
stop, or the like, or conversion unit end data entered upon
operation of a predetermined function key, kana-kanji conversion
processing is performed for the phonetic data strings stacked in
input memory 2 (step 108). This processing is performed by
supplying the phonetic data strings to conversion processor 4.
If conversion processor 4 obtains conversion possibilities for the
input character strings by accessing dictionary memory 5,
conversion controller 3 selects one possibility based on priority
information stored in priority information memory 6 (step 110).
Conversion possibility selection for a plurality of conversion
possibilities as homonyms is performed by sending an instruction to
conversion processor 4. The conversion possibility having the
highest priority is selected by processor 4 according to the
appearance frequency data and last selection data. The selected
conversion possibility is the conversion result corresponding to
the input phonetic data.
The conversion result is transferred to output memory 7 and
displayed at output device 8 (step 112).
After kana-kanji conversion processing in the predetermined
processing unit is completed and the conversion result is stored in
output memory 7, conversion controller 3 erases the phonetic data
string stored in input memory 2 (step 114) and prepares for the
next phonetic data input.
Conversion controller 3 determines whether last input data of the
input data strings converted as described above is sentence end
data representing a full stop or the like (step 120). If the last
input data is determined to be the conversion unit segmentation
data, the above operation is repeated. The phonetic data string
input in the predetermined conversion unit is subjected to
kana-kanji conversion again. However, if the last input data is
determined to be the sentence end data (e.g., a full stop), the
following operation is performed. It should be noted that
determination for the last input data as the sentence end data is
performed by retrieving a flag which was set upon determination of
the input data as the sentence end data in step 104.
If the last input data is the sentence end data and the sentence
segmentation for the input data strings input so far is detected,
one sentence data represented by the conversion results in the
predetermined conversion unit is stored in output memory 7.
Conversion controller 3 reads out the conversion results, in the
conversion unit, sequentially stored in output memory 7, and
searches the sentence head (step 122). The classification codes and
the semantic relations for the conversion results in the conversion
unit are assigned thereto from the sentence head, thereby
performing syntactic analysis (step 124).
The syntactic analysis is performed such that classification codes
of other words are checked according to the semantic relations of
the conversion results so as to determine that connection
conditions are satisfied. By the syntactic analysis, conversion
controller 3 determines that the conversion results in output
memory 7 satisfy the predetermined semantic relations with other
conversion results.
If a conversion possibility which does not satisfy the semantic
relation is found, controller 3 determines that it is an improper
possibility as the conversion result. The priority of the
conversion possibility is lowered. Alteration of the output
priority results in selection of another conversion possibility
(i.e., a homonym) as the possibility having the highest priority.
The semantic relations of this conversion possibility are also
checked as described above.
A conversion possibility which satisfies semantic relations with
other words can be selected from a plurality of homonyms (step
126). It should be noted the homonym having the highest priority is
selected among the homonyms satisfying the semantic relations.
A new conversion possibility selected instead of the conversion
result which does not satisfy semantic relation is replaced with
the corresponding conversion result transferred to output memory 7.
As a result, the sentence information consisting of only conversion
results satisfying the semantic relations is stored in output
memory 7. This sentence data is updated and displayed at output
device 8 (step 128).
The next conversion possibility for the character string having a
plurality of conversion possibilities can be altered in response to
the next conversion possibility selection command from input device
1, if necessary. However, since the conversion possibilities having
improper semantic relations are eliminated by processing described
above, a proper conversion result can be usually obtained. In this
case, the next input operation can be started.
An example of processing in this system will be described in detail
with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.
If phonetic data "kisha-ga" and then conversion end unit data are
input at input device 1, the phonetic data is supplied to
conversion processor 4 so that kana characters are converted to
kanji characters.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, there are three conversion
possibilities K11, K12, and K13, for phonetic data "kisha".
If the conversion possibilities are stored in dictionary memory 5
from the one having highest priority, for example, character string
K11 (your company) is selected as a conversion result. This
conversion result data is stored in output memory 7 and displayed
at output device 8, as shown in FIG. 4A.
Phonetic data "toukyou-wo" is then input and the conversion unit
data is instructed. Character string K21 is selected as the
conversion result since only one character string corresponds to
the phonetic data. The obtained conversion result is stored in
output memory 7, following the immediately preceding result.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, a character string, including
strings K11 and K21, is displayed at output device 8.
Phonetic data "houmonsuru" and sentence end data are then entered.
Character string K41 is obtained as the conversion result
corresponding to phonetic data "houmonsuru". The syntactic analysis
is then started in response to the sentence end data.
In the syntactic analysis, all the conversion possibilities, in the
conversion unit, which constitute the corresponding sentence and
which are stored in output memory 7, are read out therefrom and
transferred to conversion controller 3 to check homonyms of each
conversion possibility. At the same time, the semantic connection
relations of the conversion possibilities are checked according to
the classification codes and the semantic relations.
The conversion possibility data in FIG. 5 can be obtained from data
read out from output memory 7. Conversion possibilities K11 to K13,
separated by marks "#" and "*", in FIG. 5 are homonyms.
The relations between the conversion possibilities as homonyms and
other conversion possibilities connected thereto through
propositional words are illustrated in FIG. 6.
When the validity of the semantic connection relations is checked
according to the classification codes and the semantic relations,
only the semantic connection relation is given for character string
K41:
"(a) ga (a/b/d) wo houmonsuru"
that is,
(a) visit (a/b/d) therefore,
"(a) ga [K21] wo [K41]"
In addition, since [K11] has classification code (b),
"[K11] ga [K21] wo [K41]"
The above semantic connection is not registered and is thus
improper. In this case, only conversion possibility K12 having
classification code (a) only satisfies the semantic relation for
K41, that is,
"[K12] ga [K21] wo [K41]"
The output priority order of conversion possibility K11 is lowered,
and the conversion result is corrected to select conversion
possibility K12 in place of possibility K11. As a result, the
conversion result is obtained, as shown in FIG. 4C.
The construction of the already converted sentence is analyzed in
response to the sentence end data, and thus the conversion
possibilities satisfying the predetermined semantic relations are
selected.
The conversion possibilities as homonyms are selected and corrected
according to priority information based on the appearance frequency
data or the like. Therefore, the proper conversion results can be
effectively obtained. The number of selection operations for the
homonyms can be reduced and input operation efficiency can be
improved. In addition, the conversion results for the input
phonetic data can be obtained at high speed. As soon as one
sentence is input, conversion possibilities having improper
semantic relations can be corrected or eliminated. More proper
conversion results can be obtained, thereby further simplifying the
input operation for document drafting.
The present invention is not limited to the particular embodiment
described above.
For example, instead of designating the conversion unit by manual
inputs, phonetic data may be automatically segmented in a
predetermined processing unit in the system and may be subjected to
kana-kanji conversion processing in the predetermined processing
unit.
The present invention is not limited to Japanese wordprocessors but
can be extended to Chinese wordprocessors using ideographic
characters. The present invention may also be applied to a system
for processing Japanese or Chinese including kanji characters,
e.g., a preprocessing system for entering data in a
Japanese-English machine translation system or the like .
* * * * *